Pebbles and Diamonds
by Raftina
Summary: Cloud centric one-shot. Cloud tries to make Tifa a b-day gift and then looks for her in Nibelheim. not much of a summ but I didn't want to give anything away


**Disclaimer**: The characters, settings, etc. all belong to Square Enix and I did not write this story for profit.

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**Pebbles and Diamonds**

It was TIfa's birthday today—he was sure of it. He had been counting down the days on his calendar, getting more and more excited each day it got closer. Well, today was the day—the day she would notice him. As he considered this, a tiny smile formed on his thin lips. He could just visualize what her face would look like once she received his gift: a hand-made bracelet.

It was easy to obtain the thread. He just bought the nicest and most expensive one he could buy from a town merchant, but the small decorative ornaments were not such an effortless ordeal.

He had gathered all the finest rocks he could find around Nibelheim and from those, he chose only the best ones to shape into little flower ornaments. Of course, being only ten, he wasn't exactly an expert sculptor, so he had to practice on the rejected stones first.

It took him a few months of excessive practice before he was finally satisfied with the outcome. Thereafter, he began sculpting on the stones he had reserved for producing the final creation. He concluded that the process was a tough and lengthy one. To avoid making mistakes, he worked at a turtle's pace and being obsessed with this bracelet, he worked from early morning through the night, taking only necessary breaks. Once done crafting the ornaments, he proceeded in smoothing them out until they were as soft as real flowers. One would have had to examine them closely to know that they were actually made of rocks.

Although it took only two months to craft the hundreds of small practice flower ornaments, it took twice as long to make the measly seven he had intended on making for Tifa. The final outcome of the whole ordeal was a small bracelet composed of seven expertly crafted flowers bound together by high quality thread, and one exhausted boy with bandaged hands. Of course, as he looked down at the bracelet on the palm of his hand, he felt that a few sacrificed months of hard work and some scratches here and there were a small price to pay for it. Now there was only one thing left to do: make sure that this bracelet was placed on Tifa's pretty little wrist.

With built up confidence, he headed outside and scanned the small town for Tifa. She was nowhere in sight. In fact, not many kids were outside. He thought it strange that such a small amount of them would be out on a Saturday afternoon.

Not wanting to give up so soon, he jogged up to a small group of children and asked a little timidly," H, hey, um, do you guys k, know where all the kids are?"

One of them looked at him in a weird way and barked out exactly what was going through his head: "What are you stupid or something?"

It was obvious that was not a question.

'This isn't going very well,' he thought to himself.

Trying to regain some confidence, he squeezed the bracelet until his small turned into a pale fist.

'But I can't give up now!'

Ignoring the rude remark, he tried a more direct approach this time and asked, "Where's Ti—"

"They're all attending Tifa's birthday party at the inn," a different boy started. "We weren't invited because we're not popular enough," the boy finished, kicking some dirt on the ground.

He smiled in gratitude and squeaked a small 'thank you' before heading towards the inn. As he jogged there, his blond spikes bobbed around, matching his happy pace. At this point, there was only one thought going through his head: Tifa's at the inn!

Only upon arriving to the front steps of the inn, did he realize that he could not enter unless he had an invitation. Recalling that the boy had said they were not invited, realization hit him: he had not gotten an invitation either.

"Well, I would have gotten one if I hadn't been locked in my room for six months," he told himself, trying to make a passable excuse. But, the reality was that he wouldn't have gotten one even if he stood outside the Lockheart house every afternoon because her father hated him. He was still not forgiven for what happened to Tifa at Mt. Nibelheim. Tifa never blamed him for that though so he found solace in that. She may not have noticed him throughout their early childhood but she never blamed him for anything. Yes, she would have definitely wanted him to attend the party even if it went against her father's wishes.

He then decided to step closer. The front door of the inn had a big 'Closed' sign and faint music could be heard coming from inside. The uninviting sign should have made it clear enough that he was not welcome, but he wasn't going to let a piece of thin wood separate him from her. He mustered up some courage and made three soft knocks on the hard wood.

No answer.

A little aggravated, he tried with more force, only to get the same response. Before he knew it, he started to repeatedly kick the door with his small boots. He kicked with so much force, he actually dented it. Then, he stopped abruptly when he heard the door knob jiggling from the other side.

Before him, stood Mr. Lockheart. The man had been laughing when the door opened but it was wiped out of his face as soon as he laid eyes on the blonde boy.

"What do you want, Cloud?" he asked rather annoyed.

Too overwhelmed to answer, Cloud could only stare up at the man with pleading eyes. Mr. Lockheart seemed to understand what the boy wanted and stated with a low, harsh voice "I thought I made it clear to you that I don't want you anywhere near my daughter!"

Slam!

Cloud stood rooted outside the inn looking at the closed door. He felt beyond stupid. Of course her father was going to be at his own daughter's birthday bash, but he wasn't expecting him, of all people, to answer the door.

Cloud began to walk slowly back home. 'Maybe I can give it to her tomorrow,' he thought optimistically. But, he didn't want to go home just yet so he walked around Nibelheim to clear his mind and in the end, his feet led him to Tifa's house.

Feeling a little down just by the sight of her house, he sat on the front steps and looked in the direction of the inn. It wasn't very far away; he could still see the 'Closed' sign without any vision problems. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. Instead of giving her the bracelet tomorrow, he could just give it to her once the party was over. His gift would be the last one she would receive but hey, save the best for last, right?

So it was decided. He would wait on her doorstep and give her his present as soon as he she came out. Determined, he set his eyes on the front door and never faltered his gaze.

It was hours before the music died out and children started coming out. They were coming out in small groups. Cloud observed every girl in the moonlight and concluded that Tifa was not among them. Then, after a while, no one came out. The surrounding felt like the silence before the storm, only he could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Just when he thought his heart would burst he heard a voice.

"Okay, dad!" a female voice said, coming from inside.

It was her! That only made his heartbeat louder and faster.

'Get a grip, Cloud,' he told himself.

Just then, TIfa emerged with a small group of kids. Her close friends. They were all laughing and talking, but he paid attention to Tifa only. She was a little wet and her skin was flushed. Even so, she still looked as beautiful as ever, if not, even more beautiful in that black dancing dress. It was a really nice dress, decorated with small diamonds that sparkled in the moonlight. It matched the rest of her accessories like the necklace, earrings and belt. Even her shoes were encrusted with little diamonds!

'They must be her birthday gifts,' Cloud thought sadly, gripping his stone made bracelet.

Suddenly, before he could register what happened next, he threw the bracelet in the dirt, with so much force, the ornaments became unbound and scattered all over the floor. At this point in time Cloud did not care anymore. Not even looking where they fell, he ran home as fast as he could without them ever noticing he was ever there.

"What a fool I was to believe that mere pebbles could ever measure up to diamonds."

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**Author's Notes**: Thank you all for reading! I do appreciate reviews whether they are about praise or reproach, but if you are too shy, I understand.


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